Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1887-06-09
THE POLAR BEAR.
A Correct Account OF Its Appearance,
weight. Habits and Amusementa

L
weight. Habits and Amusementa
Tho polar bear is not perfectly white
In color; but Of faint yellowish tint.
The bear is sometimes very nearly
white IN Grinnell Land, but never per-
fectly so. At the end Of long winter
50 l'lled bear at Sabine, which bore
well-iuarked yellowish spots.
The size of this animal has been very
much exaggerated. have no doubt
that most ofyou and the larger part Of
the world believe in the stories which
were told by Bhering upon his return
from the arctic regions, concerning the
remarkable size and ferocity Of polar
bears. They have been very
greatly exaggerated. The animal
here before us is about nine feet
long and four and a half feet high at
the shoulder-blades. and is a good rep
resentative of the largest of these ami
mals-indeed. is as large as any saw
or ever heard of. while in the arctic re-
gions. Several Of my party obtained
specimens of the polar bear from the
same region quite similar to the speci-
men before us
The weight Of polar bear Of about
the size | mentioned, is, in the summer
and fall, about sixteen hundred pounds.
OF course II depends largely upon the
season when caught. One weighing
sixteen hundred pounds in the fall
would in the spring weigh about eleven
or twelve hundred pounds.
In connection with the polar bear
we find one of the provisions which
nature has made for the Arctic animals,
namely, the ability to subsist during
the long polar winter upon the fat
which has accumulated in their bodies
during the summer months. This fat
is generally in layers; that is. there is n
layer Of fat and one of lean, at least
among the greater number of animals;
but in one specimen which we killed,
the fat, instead of bping in layers, was
distributed rs a network over the
body.
The polar bear is generally supposed
10 be a ferocious animal He is, on the
contrary, the most cowardly Of all the
bear family, and can not stand com.
parison as regards pluck with the
black, cinnamon and other bears Of the
United States and other places. He is
Mt the extreme end of the scale Of cour-
age. The polar bear never, or very
rarely, faces man, or goes near him,
/ N nj ha - oh 20. Nalr
advantage. An engineer in a German
Arctic expedition was seized by bear
which carried him some distance; but
this occurred at night and the engineer
was unprepared for the attack. Oc-
casionaily these bears creep up TO their
prey and Kill il at single blow.
The food Of the bear consists very
largely Of seals. The seal spends the
larger poriion, drobably nino-tenths,
Of its time in sleeping on the ice. The
bear will then steal up near il, when
being disturbed by the crcaking on the
ice, il awakes; but after few seconds
again goes to sleep. This is the bear 5
opportunity. lie moves nearer and
nearer, and then with sudden spring
seizes the seal.
The polar bear, altl ough large, and
clumsy in its gait. is very active, and
the strength in its forefeet is some.
thing marvellous.
In the region Of the Arctic circle
where ] served, the bear is the largest
Of the land animals.
TIE polar bear passes over the ice
with surprising swiftncss; and he NAV
be said To be equally at home on the
ice, on the land and in the water. A
bear was seen from the masthead, in
the middle Of strait forty miles wide,
when no ice could be discovered.
In regard to their amuscmcnts, for II
really seems at times from their ac.
tions that they do amuse themselves,
they seem TO be fond Of an exercise
that has become very fashionable with
in the last year in American circles,
I. e. ''tobogganing. or sliding down
hill," as il was called in my my early
days. The bears seem 10 like nothing
better than occasionally 10 slide down
large snow-drift Why or wherefore
no one knows.
The meat Of the bear Is not as a gen.
eral thing disagreeable 10 the taste II
Is like that Of the brown bear In the
spring or summer, after the bear has
fed on fish and seal. the meat is rather
strong. One portion Of the bear, how
ever, the Esquimau does not think is fiji
to eat, and that is the liver, which, II
is said. causes all TO become sick. And
| have good reason to think this asser-
tion true. | do not. however. state II
as a fact, but as what is said by the
Esquiman and others. General 4. w.
QreeIeu ffs (Jas,lo,,o.,a.